Definitely Not Dating
by AllonsySpaceman
Summary: They're definitely not dating. They only go out as friends, until an accident might change everything.


**Hi everyone! First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who read my other story and left all those lovely comments. Thank you to all those who asked for a second chapter. I'm not planning on writing anything more for that story at the atmoment but who knows, maybe in the future I might add something.**

**Special thanks to Erin and Ilaria for all the** **help in this story!**

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They took off their shoes and left them in the car before making their way to the shore, smiling and talking to each other. The beach was peaceful and quiet, the light breeze coming from the sea had made the temperature a little more bearable.

Sharon couldn't resist the temptation and went into the water until she was ankle deep into the ocean. She started giggling and splashing water, dancing around a bit, without a care in the world. Andy was watching her from the shore, grinning and laughing with her.

"If you fall, I'm not coming in to pick you up" Andy called, when he realised she'd gone farther away, the water now reaching just below her knees.  
"Don't worry Andy", she called back, "I'm a big girl, I can… SHIT!" She didn't have time to end her sentence before a wave knocked her down, sending her into the water and Andy into fits of laughter "Andy! It's not funny! The water's freezing," she yelled, barely containing her laugh "Help me up!"  
"Sorry Captain, I told you, you're on your own now." When she reached him and he was still laughing, she punched him lightly on his arm. He looked down at her and whispered, "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" she smiled sweetly, telling him that she was fine, but he noticed that she had started shivering. He took off his jacket and wrapped her with it, holding her close to help her warm up. If they stayed like that, holding each other a little longer than usual, no one said anything.

They moved apart when Andy heard her teeth chatter. They quickly walked to the car, deciding to head back to his place, since Sharon had left her car there and it was the closest to the beach.

"You already know where the bathroom and the clean towels are: go take a shower, you must be freezing. I'll see if I have something you can borrow to change into" Andy said as they entered the apartment. "Thank you, Andy" she smiled at him, closing the bathroom door behind her.

The temperature in the evening had been colder than usual and her fall in the ocean sure hadn't helped. She got in the shower and was so relieved she just stayed there, without moving, just getting warmer and enjoying the gentle massage from water on her head and her shoulders. She could feel the pressure and stress from their last case slowly slipping away, and a sense of peace and relaxation settled in.

Andy had just finished changing into something more comfortable. He walked to the kitchen to put the kettle on the stove when he saw her walking out "Sharon?" He called "I left you a blanket on the couch if you're still cold. Tea will be ready in a minute or so" he said.

Sharon sat on the couch and wrapped herself in her favourite blanket, the one they usually shared during movie nights at his place.

"I hope you won't catch anything, I can imagine that dive in the ocean wasn't pleasant…" he trailed off when he walked around the couch and saw Sharon had fallen asleep, and he could barely take his eyes off of her. She looked beautiful and peaceful. Gone was her "Captain mask", and so were the worry and the fear from the days before.

The missing child in the case they had been working on had been found after two months and returned to his parents. They were all exhausted. For weeks they had barely seen their families, they spent most of their days in the office, only going home to shower and change, and sleep for a few hours. Andy had been the one who tried to convince Sharon to go home and rest, after he found her napping on the couch in her office. They had all worked hard, as much as they could, but she was the one who had lived almost exclusively in her office every since they had been notified of the critical missing. For times like this one she kept a few suits there, and she only got two, maybe three hours of sleep every night.

She hadn't reacted well to the case and Andy knew she'd called her kids as soon as she'd had a free moment after they closed it. He'd done the same.

The tea was forgotten on the small table, as Andy stood there to look at her. He started chuckling when he heard her mumbling in her sleep, telling Rusty that they weren't going to stop for burgers again. Even in her dreams she couldn't break the rules or eat junk food, apparently.

He thought about letting her sleep there, but he knew his couch was anything but comfortable to sleep on. She finally appeared to be somewhat relaxed and the last thing he wanted to do was wake her up, let alone let her drive home as tired as she was.

Andy quickly walked to his bedroom to pull back the covers, before going back to the living room.

Sharon was dead to the world. "Sharon?" He whispered "Sharon, go take my bed, I'll take the couch" he tapped her gently on her shoulder, trying not to startle her, and almost laughed out loud when she turned facing the back to the couch and mumbled something that sounded like "go away" and "five more minutes".

He gently picked her up and looked down at her with a soft smile when she snuggled closer to him. "What are you doing?" She asked, with her eyes still closed.

"It's ok, go back to sleep. I'm just moving you to the bed so you'll be more comfortable, don't worry. I'll take the couch instead."

The only answer he got was a sigh, he noticed she'd gone back to sleep.

Andy put her down on her bed, covered her and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. As he was about to leave the room he heard her say something.

"What's that?" He asked, walking back to the bed "Something wrong?"

He barely heard her the second time too. He was smiling like an idiot, as Provenza would say. She had moved and was now almost hidden, only her hair was visible. A soft _stay… m cold..._ came from under the pile of blankets.

He stood there, wondering what to do. He, too, was exhausted and his neck and back already ached at the idea of spending the night on his couch.

Andy made sure all the doors were locked and the lights were off, and went back to the bedroom again. He pulled back the covers and laid down on his side, facing Sharon, intending to leave a respectful distance between them. He whispered goodnight to her, even though he was positive she hadn't heard him. Movement from Sharon drew his attention as he was about to fall asleep. She had rolled over and moved closer to him. In her sleep, she snuggled closer to Andy's side and wrapped her arm around him.

He moved to let her be more comfortable, and put his arm around her to hold her close. "So warm..." She mumbled with her face buried in Andy's chest "My little oven."

He looked down at her, sure that she was messing with him and she was awake but quickly realised that she was talking in her sleep again. With one arm holding Sharon close and the other gently caressing her hair and her shoulders, he fell in a deep sleep.

Andy woke at around 6 AM when he felt his phone vibrate on the nightstand. He ignored Provenza's phone call and turned it off. It was their day off, and it was too early for him to deal with his grumpy partner. He turned again and wrapped his arm around Sharon like it had been all night, he pulled her tight against him. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the familiar perfume that Sharon loved so much and that he gave to her on her birthday a few months before, and went back to sleep again.

When they woke hours later Sharon had turned and was hiding her face in his chest.

"What are you? An octopus?" asked Andy. Sharon lazily looked up at him, still hazy from sleep. "What did you say?" "Were you an octopus in another life or something?" She opened her eyes and almost jumped when she realised how close they were and that she still had one arm around Andy and her leg between his.

"Andy I'm so sorry. You should have said something or woke me up. Sorry. I didn't mean to".

He started laughing and took her hand "Lie back down. It's ok" he pulled her to him while she was still rambling "Really. I didn't mean to roll over. You were exhausted and you must have been uncomfortable with me like that. I'm so sorry".

He hugged her tight and whispered "Sharon. It's ok. Relax, it's just me, Andy. Hey, what's wrong?" she was shaking and he noticed she was about to cry.

"Can you talk to me? Please?" He whispered. His arms were around her, caressing her back, trying to soothe her.

"Sharon?" "Andy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. Sorry"

Andy pulled back a little and looked at her, worried.

"Why should you be sorry? It's ok, you were cold and I guess I'm a comfortable pillow" he said, trying to lighten the mood. "Can you tell me what's going on? I'm starting to worry"

Sharon drew a deep breath and started to explain everything.

Andy held her as she talked about Jack and how he would yell at her when she inadvertently curled up to him as he slept. He'd blame her for not getting enough sleep, that she'd made him uncomfortable.

"Before I kicked him out, he'd often come home drunk and pass out in our bed. I guess I moved closer to him in my sleep. When he'd wake up he'd start screaming at me. He pushed me away sometimes. Once he even kicked me so hard in his sleep that I fell out of bed" she said. Andy was fuming. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Sharon spent almost half an hour talking, stopping every once in a while when it all became too much. When she broke down and started crying, burying her face in Andy's chest, he was torn between comforting her, holding her, trying to make everything go away, or jump out of bed, go out to look for the piece of crap she called her ex husband and shoot him between his eyes for all the pain he'd caused her.

He stroked her hair, and whispered in her ear that it was going to be ok, that she hadn't done anything wrong and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead.

After she'd finally calmed down, he suggested she'd go freshen up a bit while he made breakfast.

"Hey…" he heard as he was busy making tea. He turned around and walked to her and opened his arms. She was immediately drawn to him and held onto his t-shirt for dear life, with all the strength she had left after the confession.

"Andy, I'm sorry you had too see that" she said, almost whispering. He looked down at her and cupped her cheek with his hand "Sweetheart, you don't have to apologise for anything. You didn't do anything wrong. I hope you know that I wasn't angry when I called you an octopus, nor that I was uncomfortable. Hell, Sharon, I haven't slept this well in ages! How anyone can treat you like that is beyond me. Jack's a bastard and I'm so angry that he hurt you like this"

She looked at him, surprised to hear those words coming from him. Quickly, she rose on her toes and kissed him. "Andy, that means more than you can imagine. Thank you" she hugged him again and pressed herself against his chest.

The kiss had surprised Andy. It wasn't more than a peck on his lips but he was almost shocked when he realised that maybe Sharon felt the same as he did for her. He kept stroking her back with one hand, an action, he had realised earlier, that helped her calm down, while the other moved to her hair.

"WHAT THE HELL?" They both jumped and moved away from each other. None of them had realised that they weren't alone in the house.

"What are you doing here, Provenza?" asked Andy.

His partner, red in the face, yelled again "what am I doing here? WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?! WHAT THE HELL, FLYNN".

Sharon was mortified and quickly, she retracted back to Andy's bedroom to gather her stuff. She could still hear Provenza screaming at Andy, talking about how "you two idiots are going to pay my therapy after seeing that".

"Flynn, what are you doing with her your kitchen? And she was wearing your clothes! Is that why you didn't pick up? Dear God, the image in my head! Are you insane?" Andy let his partner ramble for a while until he couldn't hold back anymore.

"Listen, I don't care what you think. You burst into my house as if you owned the place and start acting like you just saw God knows what. It's not a good moment, ok? Stop tormenting Sharon, she's done nothing but helping the squad and you're still giving her hell after almost a year. Pull your head out of your own ass and start acting like an adult. You leave her alone, are we clear? She's had to deal with too much shit from that asshole Jack and she doesn't need other people treating her like that. Now, unless you've got something important to say, get the hell out of my house."

In Andy's bedroom, Sharon was almost done with her clothes, and was trying to listen to what was going on in the kitchen. Provenza had stopped screaming and it was Andy's turn to speak. His voice was much lower and she couldn't make out was he was saying.

Moments later, as she prepared to leave, she heard the front door slam shut.

She wiped the few stray tears that had fallen and put her shoes back on. She was leaving the bedroom when she collided with Andy, who had come looking for her.

"Hey, where are you going?" He asked.

Sharon wouldn't even look him in the eyes "I'm sorry, I'm ruining everything. I'm going home"

As she tried to walk past him, Andy gently grabbed her hand and smiled "Sharon, sweetheart, there's no reason for you to leave. You can stay if you want, you know?"

He could barely believe what was going on. Sharon looked so fragile in front of him, like she was about to break down again. Nothing he was used to seeing.

His hand moved to her face and he leaned down to kiss her sweetly.

"Nothing's wrong. You don't have to leave because my partner's an idiot. Now, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'll get better, thank you"

He held her hands in his, and looking down at her he spoke again. "Why don't you change back into the stuff I gave you, so you'll be more comfortable? You can stay here. We could catch a movie and relax. We can talk some more if you want" he suggested.

Sharon looked up at him with a smile and nodded, leaving him in the corridor as she quickly changed.

When she walked out, she found Andy in the living room, looking through all his DVDs to find something to watch. She noticed he'd put some fruit and their tea on the coffee table and the smell coming from the kitchen told her that they were going to have popcorn, too.

Once they picked the movie and gathered everything for a lazy morning on the couch, they settled under the blanket and Andy immediately pulled Sharon to him. She was still a bit fazed by everything that happened and was surprised by his actions, but she got comfortable nonetheless.

Andy's hand immediately went to her hair to play mindlessly with her locks. She was far more relaxed that earlier and Andy could tell that talking with him had helped her some.

He placed a sweet kiss on her temple and smiled at her.

"You're being too good for me, Andy" she said, shifting slightly so she could look up at him.

"You make it easy. And in case you didn't notice, sweetheart, I care a great deal about you. There's nothing else I'd rather do, than spend a morning here on the couch. Plus, how could I deny my best friend her very own little oven, as you said?"

"Excuse me?" She asked, moving from him "when did I ever say that?"

He chuckled and pulled her back to him "Darling, you did. Last night! I don't know if you know it, but you speak in your sleep, my dear, and not only you asked me to stay because you were cold. You called me your little oven! I wish I could have recorded that. You looked adorable!"

Sharon looked at him, in disbelief and left speechless "Adorable?" she asked. Andy nodded and she could feel herself blushing but decided to let the conversation drop. She instead curled up against him again and concentrated on the movie.

Some of the insecurity was still there and she timidity asked him if he was sure that he didn't mind her like that.

Andy didn't reply at first, but tilted her chin up to kiss her deeply. When they pulled apart he smiled "Sharon, trust me. Having you here, like this, is the best feeling in the world. I told you, I care about you, more than you know, -he kissed her again- and if there's anything, anything that troubles you, please talk to me but know that this, this situation, will never bother me"

A lone tear escaped Sharon's eyes and he gently wiped it with his thumb "everything ok?"

Sharon smiled and leaned up to peck his lips "Andy, I care about you too. A lot. Thank you for doing all of this"

"Hey, it's ok! Now come here, let's enjoy the movie. We have a day off and I intend to spend it with a beautiful woman in my arms."

They got comfortable again on the couch, Sharon's head on his shoulder, and his arm around her.

The silence between them was broken a few minutes later: "I just realised how wonderful it'll be to deal with your partner"

They laughed but went back to watch the movie, both agreeing that talking with Provenza could wait a while.

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I hope you liked this! Comments are always very appreciated ❤️


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